Following the 2017 college football season, Mississippi State QB Nick Fitzgerald and Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham will have some interesting decisions to make.

Fitzgerald, a redshirt junior, and Stidham, a redshirt sophomore, will both be eligible to enter the 2018 NFL Draft following this year of collegiate action.

With a class that features USC QB Sam Darnold alongside UCLA’s Josh Rosen and Wyoming’s Josh Allen vying for a shot to be the No. 1 overall pick, both Fitzgerald and Stidham may decide to return to school.

But, if they do declare, one anonymous scout shared his early thoughts on what the professional ranks currently think of the two SEC signal callers.

“Stidham has talent but hasn’t played enough. You don’t to elevate him too quickly like a Hackenberg. Stidham did what Baylor quarterbacks do, but the SEC has eaten alive some top quarterbacks. Malzahn has no true claim to fame as a quarterback developer. He had one season with Cam Newton and that’s it.

“Dan Mullen, meanwhile, had Josh Harris, Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott, and now Fitzgerald. In fact Mullen coached Cam longer than Malzahn. Four of those six had barely one offer coming out of high school. I’d trust Dan Mullen to develop a quarterback over Malzahn. Fitzgerald just broke his school season total offense record following the best player in school history and Fitzgerald is just three years removed from running a Wing T offense in Georgia high school. Plus he’s 6-foot-4, 230-pounds. He’s basically a faster better arm version of Tebow.”

Again, a lot will change this fall and it may turn out that neither player decides to turn pro, but it’s never too early to know what your future employers may think of you.

A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 14 SEC football teams.